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Intel Update

Intel Update: March 2024

Decree Intel is a database of original Omani legal research material that provides explanatory notesoverviews of government entities, and summaries of Supreme Court cases and MJLA Fatwas.

New Content

Case Summary: Supreme Court (Labour Circuit) 766/2017 (Calculation of Rest in Overtime Work): An employee sued his employer for compensation for unpaid overtime working hours on the basis of two extra hours plus a one-hour break. The Supreme Court held that break time is not calculated as part of unpaid overtime.

The Ministry of Interior: The Ministry of Interior (وزارة الداخلية) is the entity responsible for developing the policies relating to governorates and local affairs, maintaining public order, undertaking matters relating to the international borders of the Sultanate of Oman, governing Omani nationality, governing tribal affairs, managing all kinds of elections, overseeing municipal councils, and governing mediation and conciliation committees.

Case Summary: Supreme Court (Commercial Circuit) Contestation 137/2017 (Grounds for Setting Aside Arbitral Award): The Supreme Court refused to set aside an arbitral award on the grounds that it had defects outside the grounds identified by the Law of Arbitration in Civil and Commercial Disputes, even though these defects would have been grounds to set aside an ordinary court judgment.

Sultan Qaboos University: Sultan Qaboos University (جامعة السلطان قابوس) is the first public and largest university in Oman.

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Announcements

PDF Downloads Now Enabled on Decree

We have been experimenting over the past two months with adding a standalone button to let users download the content of Decree as a pre-formatted PDF. Even though it has always been possible to download content from Decree using the Print PDF option available in most browsers, a number of users have spoken to us asking for this to be done more easily, and we are happy to finally have this feature enabled.

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Law Updates

MHUP Issues the System of Real Estate Owners Associations

The Ministry of Housing and Urban Planning published in this week’s issue of the Official Gazette a decision issuing the Form of the System of Real Estate Owners Associations that is intended to be binding on Real Estate Owners Associations and read alongside the System of the Apartments and Floors Ownership and its executive regulation.

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Monthly Digest

Decree Monthly Digest – February 2024

Decree Monthly Digest is a summary of the most significant updates on Decree in the previous month.

Royal Decrees

Six royal decrees were issued in February, with the most significant being those related to the restructuring of the health sector in Oman, which are Royal Decree 10/2024 Determining the Competences of the Ministry of Health and Adopting Its Organisational Structure and Royal Decree 11/2024 Establishing the University Medical City and Promulgating Its System. Also for the first time since October 2022, the government awarded concessions over new oil blocks through Royal Decrees 8/2024 and 9/2024.

Categories
Intel Update

Intel Update: February 2024

Decree Intel is a database of original Omani legal research material that provides explanatory notesoverviews of government entities, and summaries of Supreme Court cases and MJLA Fatwas.

New Content

Fatwa Summary: MJLA Fatwa 192721181 (SAI Confidential Emails): The Ministry of Justice and Legal Affairs (MJLA) deemed that the State Audit Institute (SAI) has a duty to release the confidential emails of a third-party held in its possession to support the defence of the government against the claims made by that third-party in an arbitration case.

Case Summary: Supreme Court (Labour Circuit) Contestation 717/2016 (Verbal Insult to Employer): An Omani employee was terminated from his job for insulting a manager in the presence of other employees. He sued his employer for unfair dismissal and demanded compensation. The Supreme Court ruled that the termination of employment was valid, emphasising that any form of assault affecting a person’s dignity is deemed grievous under article 40(8) of the Labour Law of 2003.

The Secretariat General for National Celebrations: The Secretariat General for National Celebrations (الأمانة العامة للاحتفالات الوطنية) is the entity responsible for organising national celebrations in the country.

The Ministry of Health: The Ministry of Health (وزارة الصحة) is the body responsible for developing healthcare policies as well as managing and directing the delivery of health services in the country.

Categories
Law Updates

Ban of Plastic Shopping Bags

The Environment Authority issued this week Decision 8/2024 Banning the Use of Plastic Shopping Bags as part of the efforts of the government to protect the environment. This decision repeals Decision 23/2020, which previously outright banned all single-use plastic bags.

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Article

Data Protection Officers Under the Data Protection Law and Regulation

The Personal Data Protection Law requires that all controllers identify a personal data protection officer and that the information of this officer is communicated to data subjects prior to processing any of their data. The specific details required for the implementation of this obligation have now been clarified in the Executive Regulation of the Personal Data Protection Law. This blog post will highlight the key elements of this obligation.

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Article

Processing of Sensitive Data under the Personal Data Protection Law

The Personal Data Protection Law recognises the need for special controls in regard to certain types of datasets such as health and biometric data due to their sensitivity. This blog post will outline the provisions relating to this sensitive data. It is worth noting that the law has also other categories of personal data that have their own controls, namely children data, which will not be covered by this post.

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Article

Data Subjects Rights under the Data Protection Law and its Executive Regulation

The Personal Data Protection Law has introduced a number of unique rights to data subjects that we have not seen in Oman before, the mechanism by which these rights can be enforced has now been clarified in the recently issued Executive Regulation of the Personal Data Protection Law. This blog post will provide an outline of some of the most important data subjects’ rights and the mechanism for enforcing them.

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Article

Data Breach Obligations Under the Personal Data Protection Law and Its Executive Regulation

Data breach provisions fall squarely between cybersecurity and data protection. Under article 3 of the Cybercrime Law, the unauthorised access to an electronic system is deemed a criminal offense, but this law did not impose any obligations on any party to notify the victim or to take any measure to minimise the impact of the breach. The Personal Data Protection Law and its newly issued executive regulation attempt to fill this gap in the hope of protecting the rights of victims of data breach incidents.